NEW CITY, NEW CAMERA,
FAMILIAR GLASS
By Luis Mora
I’m never without a camera
on my shoulder. No camera, no pictures. Everyday moments are there to be
captured, and I’m always ready. Some mornings, that familiar analog itch hits.
I grab my trusty, battle-worn M6, and I’m off. But lately, the black paint M-P
240 has been my go-to more than I care to admit.
Leica M cameras are my
jam. The sound of the shutter. The way the aperture ring clicks on M lenses.
The comfort in my subjects’ eyes at not having a massive lens pointed in their
faces. And, I haven’t been able to get enough of that feeling since the moment
I shot off my first frame with an M camera all those years ago.
Leica CL with 21mm
Super-Elmar-M ASPH
1/125th @ f/5.6, ISO 100
Looking for something
smaller
Lately though, convenience
has been tempting me and I’ve been wanting something smaller, lighter, and more
compact. I even flirted with a couple of notable APS-C mirrorless cameras over
the last couple of years and adapted my M glass to said cameras. But the
results often disappointed. See, I’ve been spoiled by the quality, color,
contrast, and sharpness you get when you pair M glass with a Leica sensor.
Other mirrorless cameras’ sensors aren’t optimized for the high angle of
incidence of Leica M lenses, so you’ll often get color shifts and smeary, dark
corners.
Leica CL with 21mm
Super-Elmar-M ASPH
1/60th @ f/3.4, ISO 100
Leica CL with 21mm
Super-Elmar-M ASPH
1/40th @ f/3.4, ISO 8000
Enter the Leica CL.
Rocking a classic and
ergonomic body design, along with a solid line-up of top-quality autofocus TLlenses, the Leica CL caught my attention from the get-go. But not because of
the lenses. For me, it was all about the way the camera felt in my hands. I
knew from the moment that the CL came out that I wanted to pair it with a 35
‘Cron M lens. And with the Leica M-Adapter-L, doing so is a piece of cake. Just
pop the adapter on the camera, throw on an M lens and with a 6-bit reader, the
camera knows what lens you have mounted. Lens profiles are automatically
applied and the focal length shows up in the metadata.
Originally the M-Adapter L
was called the M-Adapter T. They are the same adapter.
Leica CL with 21mm
Super-Elmar-M ASPH
1/400th @ f/8, ISO 100
Leica CL with 21mm
Super-Elmar-M ASPH
1/40th @ f/3.4, ISO 400
New City, New Camera
Recently, my wife and I
moved from Miami, FL to Atlanta, GA. I decided to document my first few weeks
here with the CL, and I really wanted to see how it performed with M glass. So,
I started thinking about what lenses to try out. The 35mm Summicron was a given,
of course. Adding two other of my favorite M lenses, the 21mm Super-Elmar-MASPH and the 75mm APO-Summicron-M ASPH, completed the setup. These are the
three lenses I would typically carry with me when shooting a wedding or other
event with the M.
Leica CL with 21mm
Super-Elmar-M ASPH
1/40th @ f/3.4, ISO 100
Leica CL with 75mm APO
Summicron-M ASPH
1/160th @ f/4, ISO 400
I took the CL with me
almost everywhere. Pool days, date nights, city trips. Nothing was out of the
question. Surprisingly, I found myself shooting the 21mm more than the other
two lenses. With the 1.5x conversion factor, the 21mm offered me a focal length
I didn’t know I needed in my life. An equivalent of 31.5mm, it served as a wide
35 and a tight 28.
Leica CL with 21mm Super-Elmar-M
ASPH
1/320th @ f/8, ISO 100
Leica CL with 21mm
Super-Elmar-M ASPH
1/40th @ f/3.4, ISO 800
Leica CL with 21mm
Super-Elmar-M ASPH
1/200th @ f/11, ISO 100
But, the biggest
limitation of the lens became apparent very quickly. At a modest f/3.4 max
aperture, the lens isn’t particularly fast. To its credit, though, the CL
performed beautifully at higher ISO values and compensated somewhat for the
slow aperture of the what became my go-to focal length.
Leica CL with 21mm
Super-Elmar-M ASPH
1/40th @ f/3.4, ISO 8000
Whenever the Super-Elmar
wasn’t mounted on the camera, I reached for the 35mm Summicron, a lens that I
can shoot with my eyes closed. All I had to do was take a couple of steps back
to compensate for the 1.5x magnification of the APS-C sensor and I was right
back in the groove. Even as a 35 shooter, I didn’t find the 50mm equivalent too
much to get used to.
Leica CL with 35mm
Summicron-M ASPH
1/100 @ f/2.8, ISO 100
Leica CL with 35mm
Summicron-M ASPH
1/400 @ f/2, ISO 100
Leica CL with 21mm
Super-Elmar-M ASPH
1/40 @ f/3.4, ISO 1250
Leica CL with 35mm
Summicron-M ASPH
1/60 @ f/2, ISO 200
Leica CL with 35mm
Summicron-M ASPH
1/60 @ f/2, ISO 800
Leica CL with 35mm
Summicron-M ASPH
1/60 @ f/2, ISO 12500
Unfortunately, the 75mm
didn’t get too much use. I would only pull it out for portraits or quieter
still life moments. I don’t really like longer lenses for shooting everyday
life and the 75 on the CL turned into a 100 equivalent. But when I did use it,
I absolutely loved the way the 75 APO rendered on the CL sensor. Colors popped,
and the images were just tack-sharp. Gorgeous.
Leica CL with 75mm APO
Summicron-M ASPH
1/160th @ f/2, ISO 4000
Leica CL with 75mm APO
Summicron-M ASPH
1/160th @ f/2, ISO 800
Leica CL with 75mm APO
Summicron-M ASPH
1/160th @ f/5.6, ISO 200
The Hybrid Experience
Using M lenses on the CL
gave me the hybrid experience I love about Leica digital photography. Marrying
classic and modern has always been one of my favorite approaches to shooting.
Dialing in focus using the tab and feeling the lens barrel turn with silky
precision. Adjusting my f-stop with the clicks of the detents on the aperture
ring dropping like subtle lock tumblers.
Leica CL with 75mm APO
Summicron-M ASPH
1/160th @ f/2, ISO 1600
The experience of the M
lenses was familiar, welcoming. But what made it even better was being able to
easily zoom to 100% within the viewfinder to guarantee my subject was in
perfect focus. I still consider myself young at 31, but my eyes aren’t what they
used to be. Besides helping me judge focus, the real-time exposure preview in
the CL’s large electronic viewfinder gave me the freedom to experiment with
light in different settings. The whole process became effortless with a little
practice.
Leica CL with 35mm
Summicron-M ASPH
1/160th @ f/2.8, ISO 100
Conclusion
I honestly don’t see
myself ever giving up on, or letting go of, a Leica M camera. There’s nothing
in the world that compares to it. But there was something about using Leica M
lenses on the CL that was comfortable, familiar. The camera felt like a Leica,
and for me, that’s crucial.
Leica CL with 75mm APO
Summicron-M ASPH
1/160th @ f/2, ISO 400
Will the CL ever replace
the Leica M as my primary camera? Probably not. But I would happily use it as a
second body in any M kit. It gives the lenses I already use a different life at
1.5x magnification, and I can easily see myself taking the CL on weekend trips.
If you’re like me, and just love the character you can only get out of M glass
but want something a little lighter and smaller to carry around every day, the
CL absolutely fits the bill.
Leica CL with 21mm
Super-Elmar-M ASPH
1/40th @ f/3.4, ISO 200
For other articles on this blog please click on Blog Archive in the column to the right
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For other articles on this blog please click on Blog Archive in the column to the right
To comment or to read comments please scroll past the ads below.
All ads present items of interest to Leica owners.
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